The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 73: Autumn 2024 | Page 13

TALKING POLITICS

We asked all eight of our new MPs the same questions about their views on business . To date , only three have responded . Clearly some more bedding in needs to be done ! Many thanks to those who made the effort .

Andrew Murrison MP Conservative South West Wiltshire

What do you think businesses in your community need from the new government ? Less bureaucracy , regulation and lower taxes and we need further progress on National Insurance and VAT thresholds . These are the issues my constituents are sharing with me .

Do you think SMEs will be paying out more ultimately ? Under this government , certainly . It talks about growth but goes on to admit tacitly that the main drivers of growth - less administrative overheads and lower taxes - will not apply under this administration . Difficult then to see how growth will be achieved or why small business owners would take the risk needed to grow enterprises .

What are your ideas for helping town centres and the High Street ? We need fewer boarded up units and surplus commercial premises need to be converted to residential . We have secured a big Future High Streets Fund grant to lift the county town ’ s centre ( over £ 16m has been awarded for this work in Trowbridge )

What are your top priorities for local business ? I will continue with my # TechTrowbridge initiative aimed at bringing the industries of the future to the county town ’ s travel to work area .

For more info : www . andrewmurrison . co . uk

The MPs who didn ’ t respond ...

Heidi Alexander MP Labour Swindon South

What do you think businesses need from the new government ? From the many conversations I ’ ve had with small business owners in Swindon , it ’ s clear to me the sector is facing real challenges : recruiting appropriately skilled staff , attracting and retaining customers through the cost of living crisis and managing rising costs ( especially true for small hospitality businesses and small manufacturing firms who have seen energy costs soar like everybody else ).

I ’ ve also spoken to small business who are no longer exporting to EU customers because of increased post- Brexit bureaucracy and I know there are many town centre businesses concerned about a lack of footfall , empty premises , high business rates , anti social behaviour and poor quality public realm in the heart of Swindon .

What are your top three priorities for local business ? I will be setting up and leading a new taskforce in the autumn to work with the council and others to drive positive change in Swindon town centre .

I will also be working closely with ministerial colleagues to ensure that Labour ’ s manifesto commitment to reform business rates and tackle late payments provides the real and lasting help small businesses so desperately need .

The establishment of Skills England will ensure that in future we have the highly trained workforce we need and I look forward to working with local schools , colleges and higher education providers to make this a reality in Swindon and beyond .

For more info : www . heidialexander . org . uk

John Glen MP Conservative Salisbury and South Wiltshire

What do you think businesses in your community need from the new government ? Businesses need assurances that mooted changes to employment rights for workers won ’ t cost them flexibility and make it prohibitively expensive to hire staff .

They need to know that if they have an online business , they won ’ t be taxed more under business rates changes that have been suggested .

What are your top priorities for local business ? I will continue to meet with the Chamber of Commerce and BID in the normal ways in the coming weeks , as well as visit local businesses .

In the last few years , Salisbury has benefited from the last government ’ s High Streets fund transforming Fisherton Street and the station forecourt and also the River Park , which has created a new open space and protected hundreds of city centre residents and business premises from flooding .

We must also ensure that any tax changes and new regulations do not hamper SMEs from functioning . They need to be able to continue to employ people flexibly , particularly when they are growing rapidly .

What are the views business owners are sharing with you ? It ’ s impossible to say what business burdens will look like three weeks into a new administration , but I know that a lot of local businesses had concerns about taxation and regulation in the election campaign .

The new government has said it will change business rates but it ’ s not yet clear what that will mean and until their budget has been set , it ’ s impossible to know what their thinking is .

For more info : www . johnglen . org . uk